NFL Draft Day is Finally Here!!! Rich Previews What Should be an Eventful Round One

The first ninety minutes of the 2026 NFL Draft will function as a kind of cardio session, Rich joked from Pittsburgh as he walked through the openings he is watching for at the top of round one on The Rich Eisen Show.

Rich opened with a coincidence he could not let go. "This is the twentieth draft of Roger Goodell's commissioner show," Rich said, before noting that the first name out of Goodell's mouth as commissioner had been JaMarcus Russell, taken first overall by the Raiders in 2007. Two decades later, the Raiders are again on the clock first overall, and Fernando Mendoza is the name Rich expects to hear. He waved off any superstition. "It's called a coincidence," Rich said. "That's all it is. Don't read anything into it."

The drama, in Rich's reading, starts at second overall with the Jets, where the question is David Bailey, the edge rusher out of Texas Tech, or the conversion linebacker Abdul Carter. From there Rich walked through the Cardinals at three, where Daniel Jeremiah's mock has the Saints trading up to take Carter while Arizona moves back to eight to take Francis Mauigoa, the Miami tackle. Rich flagged the Titans at four as the spot where the Jeremiah Love and Sonny Styles conversation would land first, with Brian Daboll likely pounding the table for the running back.

Rich kept returning to the Giants and the Browns. "Daniel Jeremiah, he's going to be joining us in hour number two, says that the Giants basically, like the end of The Godfather, settle all offensive family business and go Jeremiah Love at five and Carnell Tate at ten," Rich said. The Browns at six, in his read, are deciding between trading out and taking Spencer Fano, the Utah tackle.

The Rams at thirteen are the team Rich has been talking about for weeks. He said he does not see Los Angeles taking Ty Simpson, the Alabama quarterback, despite the noise around a succession plan for Matthew Stafford. "I think the Los Angeles Rams are going to, they've already indicated that by trading for Trent McDuffy, they are going to take a player that can help them win right now with Matthew Stafford coming back off his MVP season," Rich said. He laid out the longer scenario, that Sean McVay and Les Snead are positioning to attract a Pro Bowl quarterback in the mold of a Carson Palmer move once Stafford retires.

Rich also flagged Jeremiah's projection that Arizona moves back into the first round at twenty-six to take Simpson, which would set up a quarterback of the future in the desert. Each pick now runs eight minutes rather than the original fifteen, and Rich expected several teams to send in cards early.